Woods, Mickelson Dream Match Will Rebrand Golf As An Action Sport

This generation's greatest golfers square off in a battle for golf supremacy.

The Ali-Frazier of golf matches goes down Thanksgiving weekend as 14-time major champion Tiger Woods and five-time major champion Phil Mickelson tee it up in an 18-hole head to head bout.

In what is being dubbed, “The Match,” really isn’t that at all. The two greatest golfers of our generation are past their primes but still carry enough rock star magnetism to warrant such a matchup at a price point of 19.99.

The winner gets $9 million and it won’t be your traditional golf match.

Both players will be making side bets during the match and talking a lot of trash. Any winnings from side bets will be donated to various charities. Tiger vs. Phil is an event that’s attractive to the casual sports fan because it contains elements that totally contradict golf’s traditional white collar posture of quiet aggression and humble exchanges from hole to hole.

For instance, the over-under on the total number of curse words that will be dropped between the two spirited golfers is set in Vegas at 21.5.

The money that Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor made when they boxed definitely influenced golf to facilitate this clash of the titans. A one-on-one match like this undoubtedly raises golf’s profile and eliminates the monotony of having to watch three days of 18 holes.

TigervsPhil got us thinking…what other head-to-head matchups would we love to see? 🤔 (by @Daniel_Rapaport) https://t.co/QBU8Dar9PC

All of the elements for a historic event are in place. Both men are golfing legends who have had some fierce battles in the past but finally seeing Tiger go against his greatest white “rival” or contemporary for clear bragging rights can’t be missed.

Woods vs Mickelson is the perfect vehicle to introduce and rebrand golf as an action sport. The one-on-one battle cuts to the core of competition and with Tiger’s emphatic return to golf this season, his stock is at an all-time high. Any event he’s involved in is a major win for golf.

Most people are picking Tiger Woods to win based on his 2018 redemption tour that finished with his improbable win at the 2018 Tour Championship. The 2018-19 PGA Tour schedule is already out, therefore winning “The Match” sets Tiger up for “The Comeback: Round 2” in 2019.

JR Gamble joined The Shadow League in 2012. The Deputy Editor and Senior Writer is in his 23rd year of covering sports and culture professionally. He has covered a wide variety of major sports and entertainment topics across different mediums, including radio, magazines and national TV.

His passion is baseball, the culturing of baseball and preserving and documenting the historically-impactful accomplishments and contributions of African-Americans in baseball.